Mainly Opera and Ballet
Dorset Opera stage their productions in the excellent auditorium at Bryanston School, and this year saw two: Donizetti’s delightful comedy L’elisir d’amore (The Elixir of Love); and Saint-Saëns’ hugely dramatic Samson et Delila. This latter one was more enjoyable than the recent staging of the same opera at Covent Garden — see my reviews of …
Love and betrayal — an indomitable, strong man undone by a woman — is the essence of the Biblical story, but the opera by Saint-Saëns gives Delilah a motive in which she acts out of religious zeal and patriotic fervour. This conflicts with the fact that she is bribed to betray Samson, but the wonderful …
Chutzpah is the word for Grange Park this summer. First they manage to attract Bryn Terfel to the main role in Fiddler on the Roof, then they decide to take on Samson et Delila, which requires first rate singers in both main roles and is a difficult opera to stage. This is perhaps why director …
